Greetings! My name is Kathryne Arrianna Vernelle Burton and I am from Prince George's County, Maryland. I am currently a sophomore at Elizabeth City State University, pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. In my younger years, I became very familiar with the career path I wanted to take. My family had a substantial amount of influence on both the choice of my major and what institution of higher learning I was going to attend. Upon my arrival to ECSU, I was accepted into the Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research Program (CERSER), lead by Dr. Linda B. Hayden. Being a student involved in this program has opened many opportunities to my disposal such as research projects, and opportunities on campus and abroad. Thus far, I have in two research projects. I completed my first research experience with Dr. Malcom LeCompte on a project called SeaSpace TeraScan GOES Multispectral Animations. Throughout this project, the GOES Talent Team received images from different satellites in space through TeraScan and made one composite image and a movie with the received data. I completed my second research experience under the mentorship of Mr. Jeff Wood with the Implementation of an interactive database interface utilizing HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL in support of water quality assessments in the Northeastern North Carolina Pasquotank Watershed.

I have also participated in The Women in Math Celebration for two consecutive years. During this outreach program I assisted Dr. Cheryl Lewis with the Math Sprint Competition. CERSER has also allowed me to become a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

I am expected to graduate in May 2017, after which I plan to continue my academic career in a master’s or doctorate degree program. Ultimately, I strive to use my prior knowledge, skills, training and abilities to ascertain a suitable career in the same field of the degree I am pursuing.